"Tackling the Big Issues" at the FSF Annual Associate Member Meeting, Saturday, March 15

Boston, Massachusetts, USA--Thursday, February 28th, 2008--The Free Software Foundation announced details for its annual associate member meeting to be held at MIT, Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, March 15th, 2008.

Keynote speeches from FSF board members Mako Hill and Henri Poole
and the director of the FSF-backed End Software Patents campaign Ben
Klemens will each address the 2008 theme, "Tackling the Big Issues."
They will look at the projects that will demand the Free Software
Foundation's attention in 2008: from software patents to freedom for
web services, from advancing free software adoption to the changing
relations with the entertainment industry brought about by this year's
Hollywood writers strike.

This year's meeting will also host the ceremony for the FSF's
annual free software awards, where winners of the "Award for the
Advancement of Free Software" and the "Award for Projects of Social
Benefit" will be announced and recognized. Previous winners have
included community luminaries like Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt and
Alan Cox and projects of social benefit such as the Sahana Disaster
Management System and Wikipedia.

The meeting will also feature practical discussion among FSF
members and its board of directors led by FSF president Richard
Stallman, who will discuss current FSF campaigns and projects, as part
of an interactive "Members Forum" session.

Peter Brown, FSF executive director said, "With the launch of the
End Software Patents campaign, we are tackling head-on the major
threat the free software movement faces—interestingly, this is a
campaign that was instigated at last year's meeting. At the same time
we see the incredible success that free software is having and how
promotion and adoption can be driven by ethical concerns."

Now in its sixth year, this annual gathering has become a sounding
board for activities of the Foundation, and a place to develop ideas
with the free software community on future campaigns and actions. You can join the meeting by becoming an FSF member and registering online.

About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software. Its Web site,
located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about
GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its
headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.